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(l-r) Mike Sunderland listens to Chad Henderson talks about how to create and maintain value in a company for clients during their presentation with moderator, right, Kelly Reeser, at The Wright Place during Entrecon Friday. Bruce Graner

With the help of moderator Travis Peterson, far left, Peter Nowak and Susan O'Connor teamed up to give their "To Know and Serve" presentation, part of the events going on Friday during the Entrecon seminar in downtown Pensacola. This part of the event was held at The Wright Place. Bruce Graner

The "To Know and Serve" presentation put on by Peter Nowak and Susan O'Connor was part of the Entrecon seminar that was put on Friday afternoon at The Wright Place. Mollye Barrows was unable to attend so Travis Peterson filled in as moderator for them. Bruce Graner

Celeste Beatty, Founder of the Harlem Brewing Company, talks about breaking into the craft beer industry, including how her company's trade-mark hats came into being, during the Entrecon seminar Friday at The Rex Theatre. Bruce Graner

Scott Zepp, Co-founder and Director, World of Beer, listens carefully to Celeste Beatty, the Founder of the Harlem Brewing Company, about her experiences getting started in the craft beer industry. Bruce Graner

On the surface, the Studer Group Healthcare consulting firm seems almost like an overnight success.

Founded by Quint Studer in 1998 while he was still the CEO of Baptist Health Care in Pensacola, the company's revenue in 1999 was $800,000 and $3.9 million in 2000. This year, it is projected to earn $90 million in revenue from the services it offers in the US, Canada and Australia.

But Studer began planning for starting his own consultancy in 1989 when he recognized the need to develop emotional maturity and gain more experience in the healthcare field. In 1993, while working in a hospital in Chicago, he traveled to South Bend, Indiana, to learn about data and research from Press Ganey, which studies patient satisfaction among other aspects of healthcare.

"I spent five years knowing I was going to start a company, building my skill set and my brand," Studer told the attendees of EntreCon during the two-day entrepreneurship conference's final keynote address Friday afternoon.

Studer shared stories from his childhood through to his alcoholism, after which he worked in a 35-bed treatment facility. His success there served as a springboard into a lucrative career in hospitals and eventually at the Studer Group, which now employs 250.

By 1995, Holy Cross Hospital was used as a yard stick by other hospitals, who traveled to Chicago to study the success. Among those was Baptist Health Care, where he became CEO in 1996.

The decision to leave the financial security of his CEO salary and the $1.5 million bonus he would receive if he stayed at his position until the age of 55 was fraught with fear. But one fear outweighed them all.

"My bigger fear was what if I don’t?" he said of taking the leap and setting out his own shingle. "I didn’t want to be one of those people who said I could of, should of or would of."

Among the best practices he shared with the EntreCon audience was strategies for hiring and firing, pricing products or services and the importance of rewarding employees for a job well done.

Managers are evaluated on an objective scale, which "takes away ambiguity because everybody knows what success looks like." High and middle performers should be identified and retained, while low performers should be jettisoned before they do any damage.

"Even a small group of low performers can take an organization down," he said.

The success resulted in sale of the firm to JMI Equity in 2011 for $217 million. A major reason he sold the Studer Group was because he wanted to bring in intellectual capital to take the company to the next level. Four major management positions were filled and more than 100 employees were hired.

But the money would allow Studer to invest in Pensacola and grow the community. The owner of the Blue Wahoos minor league baseball team said his favorite pastime is watching children chase a person dressed up like a cockroach run across the outfield grass.

"It doesn't help to leave your kids a lot of money," he said. "Research says it's not a good deal."